Literacy rate of young men vs. women by country

Share of men aged 15 to 24 years who can read and write.

Countries reporting
95
Highest
100.0%
Tajikistan
Lowest
56.3%
Chad
Median
97.9%
Years covered
50
1975–2024
Data points
1,078

What the numbers show

Literacy rate of young men vs. women is currently reported for 95 countries. The highest value is 100.0% in Tajikistan; the lowest is 56.3% in Chad.

The median across all reporting countries is 97.9%, and the mean is 92.7%.

The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 2.

Over the past decade 62 countries rose and 29 fell. The largest increase was in Guinea (up 85.4%), and the largest decrease in Zambia (down 13.0%).

Literacy rate of young men vs. women: full country ranking

#Country LatestYear 10-year changeTrend
1 Tajikistan 100.0% 2017 up 0.5% flat
1 Philippines 100.0% 2022 up 2.6% rising
1 Saudi Arabia 100.0% 2024 up 0.7% rising
1 Uzbekistan 100.0% 2022 unchanged flat
5 Palestine, State of 99.9% 2024 up 0.5% flat
6 Armenia 99.9% 2023 up 0.1% flat
7 Azerbaijan 99.9% 2023 down 0.1% flat
8 Singapore 99.9% 2021 down 0.0% flat
9 Belarus 99.8% 2019 up 0.1% flat
9 Bolivia, Plurinational State of 99.8% 2024 up 0.2% rising
11 Mauritius 99.8% 2023 up 2.2% rising
12 Republic of Moldova 99.8% 2014 down 0.1% flat
13 China 99.8% 2020 up 0.1% flat
14 Macao 99.7% 2016 up 0.1% flat
15 Serbia 99.7% 2022 up 0.4% flat
16 Spain 99.7% 2021 up 0.1% flat
17 Qatar 99.7% 2024 up 1.3% rising
17 Mongolia 99.7% 2024 up 1.7% flat
19 Oman 99.7% 2022 up 2.3% rising
20 Tonga 99.6% 2023 up 0.3% flat
20 United Arab Emirates 99.6% 2024 up 1.9% rising
22 Panama 99.6% 2024 up 1.2% flat
23 Georgia 99.6% 2024 down 0.1% flat
24 Bahrain 99.5% 2024 rising
25 Peru 99.4% 2024 up 0.2% flat
26 Malaysia 99.3% 2022 up 0.9% rising
27 Brazil 99.2% 2024 up 0.8% rising
28 Chile 99.1% 2022 down 0.1% flat
28 Kuwait 99.1% 2020 up 0.0% rising
30 Viet Nam 99.0% 2022 up 1.6% flat
31 Albania 98.9% 2023 down 0.5% flat
32 Iran 98.9% 2023 up 0.8% rising
33 Uruguay 98.8% 2024 up 0.5% flat
34 Ecuador 98.8% 2024 down 0.2% flat
35 Mexico 98.8% 2024 down 0.1% rising
36 Sri Lanka 98.7% 2024 up 0.6% rising
37 Maldives 98.6% 2019 down 0.6% rising
38 Paraguay 98.6% 2024 down 0.4% rising
39 Eswatini 98.5% 2022 rising
40 Samoa 98.5% 2019 down 0.5% flat
41 Jordan 98.5% 2024 down 0.5% flat
42 Cape Verde 98.5% 2024 up 0.9% rising
43 Colombia 98.4% 2024 up 0.3% flat
44 Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of 98.4% 2017 up 0.4% rising
45 Tunisia 98.2% 2023 up 0.2% rising
46 India 98.0% 2024 up 4.9% rising
47 Thailand 97.9% 2022 down 0.0% flat
48 El Salvador 97.9% 2024 up 0.6% rising
49 Dominican Republic 97.7% 2024 up 0.3% rising
50 Suriname 97.4% 2018 down 2.0% flat
51 Nepal 96.8% 2019 up 6.4% rising
52 South Africa 96.3% 2024 down 2.4% rising
53 Myanmar 96.3% 2020 up 1.0% rising
54 Montenegro 96.2% 2018 down 3.2% flat
55 Cambodia 95.9% 2023 up 5.1% rising
56 Sao Tome and Principe 95.8% 2019 down 1.3% flat
57 Guatemala 95.7% 2024 up 0.2% rising
58 Egypt 95.5% 2022 up 3.4% rising
59 Honduras 94.8% 2024 down 0.2% rising
60 Lesotho 94.3% 2024 up 7.9% rising
61 Nicaragua 94.1% 2014 up 10.5% rising
62 Iraq 93.8% 2021 up 7.4% rising
63 Togo 93.3% 2022 up 7.4% rising
64 Morocco 93.0% 2014 up 15.1% rising
65 Indonesia 92.9% 2022 down 6.0% rising
66 Türkiye 92.6% 2022 down 7.0% rising
67 Bangladesh 92.4% 2022 up 21.1% rising
68 Lao People's Democratic Republic 92.2% 2023 down 2.3% rising
69 Ghana 91.7% 2021 up 3.9% rising
70 Namibia 90.8% 2023 down 1.4% rising
71 Comoros 90.3% 2021 up 6.2% rising
72 Tanzania, United Republic of 88.8% 2022 up 1.9% flat
73 Ethiopia 88.4% 2022 up 35.9% rising
74 Burundi 88.2% 2020 up 6.7% rising
75 Congo, Democratic Republic of the 87.8% 2023 down 5.1% rising
76 Cameroon 87.6% 2018 down 2.0% rising
77 Rwanda 87.5% 2022 up 7.9% rising
78 Timor-Leste 86.4% 2022 up 7.3% flat
79 Uganda 84.3% 2024 up 3.3% rising
80 Afghanistan 83.4% 2022 up 34.8% rising
81 Côte d'Ivoire 82.1% 2022 up 38.9% rising
82 Nigeria 81.3% 2024 down 5.6% flat
83 Malawi 81.3% 2020 rising
84 Pakistan 79.5% 2021 up 1.8% rising
85 Zambia 79.3% 2024 down 13.0% rising
86 Mozambique 78.4% 2022 down 1.8% rising
87 Sierra Leone 78.2% 2019 up 6.3% rising
88 Benin 74.6% 2022 up 4.2% rising
89 Gambia 72.0% 2021 down 8.1% rising
90 Guinea 69.6% 2018 up 85.4% rising
91 Senegal 69.3% 2023 up 10.2% rising
92 Burkina Faso 65.5% 2022 up 39.2% rising
93 Niger 64.0% 2022 up 31.7% rising
94 Mali 57.2% 2024 down 5.4% rising
95 Chad 56.3% 2019 up 4.7% rising

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Literacy rate of young men vs. women by country. Statizoid, drawing on UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Retrieved 30 August 2026, from https://education.statizoid.com/stat/literacy-rate-of-young-men-and-women/

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About this data

Indicator
Literacy rate of young men vs. women
Unit
%
Source
UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
95 places, 1,078 data points, 1975–2024
Last refreshed

Share of men aged 15 to 24 years who can read and write.